A Joyful Witness - Fall 2013

7/29/2019 A Joyful Witness - Fall 2013

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WhySacredMusic?WhatcomestomindwhenyouhearthewordsSacredMu

sic? Oen people think of a favorite hymn or liturgical

song. SomemayberemindedofGregorianchantorbeau

ful choir music. Even more may be drawn to popular

contemporarymusiccomposed from19601995. Inmu

sic, theChurchhasawonderfulwealth, indeeda treasure

troveofines

mable

value,

defining

itasgreater

than

that

of

anyother art! What then is thebigdeal aboutmusic in

Church,andwhyshouldIcareaboutit?

The key word which needs greater contemplaon is

Sacred. From the Lan,Sacra,wearegiedwithmany

words: Holy, Saint, Sacred, sancfy, etc. In delving a bit

deeper,wefind thata largepartoftheSacredLiturgycan

be defined with derivaves of Sacra: Sanctus, Sacerdos,

Sanctuary, Sacristy, sacrifice. In these termswe find that

holinesscanbeaributedtoaspecific meandplace,with

intheSacredLiturgyinourChurches. Withthisgreaterspa

alunderstanding,welearnthatSacredisthatwhichiswor

thyofveneraon,beingsetapartfromthenonsacred. Just

as the Sanctuary, the Priest, Sacred Altar, vestments and

vessels,indeedtheChurchherselfaresetapart. Themusic

employed and proclaimedwithin the Sacred Liturgymust

also be Holy, and devoted to this one purpose: Sacred

meanssetapartforWorshipoftheDivine.

What then defines SacredMusic from other forms? It is

worthy inthisregardtoconsidertheHolyPriesthood. The

Priestclotheshimselfdifferentlyfromthelaity,bothincler

icsandatMass,deparngfromthesecular. AthisOrdina

on, he is anointed with Sacred Chrism to sancfy the

Chrisanpeople and tooffer sacrifice toGod. TheCate

chism(CCC1540)remindsusofthesecondchapterofMala

chi, defining thepriesthood as Instuted to proclaim the

WordofGodandtorestorecommunionwithGodbysacri

ficesandprayer.

SacredMusic is similarly clothed apart from the ordinary.

The text, style, rhythm, and numerous other qualies are

A JOYFUL WITNESSA JOYFUL WITNESSA JOYFUL WITNESSSacred Music Newsletter

AUTUMN 2013

AboutthisNewsletter&IssueApraccal instrucontothefaithfuloftheDioceseofMar

quee, this newsleer is intended to educate and inform.

The Church provides a clear teaching on the use ofmusic

within the Sacred Liturgy, yet many of these documents,

direcves,andresourcesremainunknownanduntouched.

This issue focuses on the use of hymnody. Hymns chiefly

belong to the DivineOffice,andunl recentdecadeshave

not regularly been used in theHoly Sacrifice of theMass,

withtheexceponofvariedculturaluse.

As an opon at the spoken Mass (commonly called Low

Mass), hymnody grew into use prior to Vacan Council II.

Most especially from 19681973, hymns and songs gained

momentum as musical sengs of the translaons from

Lantothevernacular languages, inourcaseEnglish,were

not available. A revised choir book, the new Graduale

Romanum, was issued in

1974. This contains the five

chantedpropersoftheMass:

the Introit, psalm, alleluia,

offertory and communion

anphons. Albeitthespirit

ofthe meandthedesirefor

creave innovaon, the

chantedproperswereviewed

asunpopular, and felloutof

use. Tothisday,theseproper

sungprayersarecrossedout,

in favor of unrelated and

oeninappropriatehymns.

What is the soluon? Werewenot told fordecades that

songsandhymnsarethenorm? Intruth,no. Thesameleg

islaonexistedthenasnow. Wechoseperhapswithsome

ill advisementthat the last opon become the norm.

Hymnsarenotthenorm,singingtheMassis. Theprayersof

theMass,includingthefivepropersandallthepriestspray

ersattheAltararenotreplaceableatwhim.

TheGradualeRomanumwithEnglishtranslations

connued

Page

3

connued

Pag


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BookReview:ThreeNewHymnals Alongwiththe2011EnglishTranslaonoftheMissalcomesnewsungMasssengs,anewsung

OrderofMass,andothervariableshaveusheredintheneedfornewresourcesinthepew.

Hardboundhymnalsareanexcellentopon,aspapermissaleesmustbethrownawayandreorderedeachyear. ApartfromtheissueofconstantlydisposingofbookswithSacredScriptureinthem,theaverage

parishwouldsavethousandsofdollarsaertheinialinvestmentinahymnal.

Cost Comparison (courtesy of GIA):DisposableMissalees AverageCostfor10yearsubscripon+shipping= $41,950

HardboundHymnal 10yearcostforthesameparish=$7500

Savings=$34,450

Threenewhymnalsarenowavailablethatcontainbothmodernandtradionalstylesofmusicwithsoundtheology.

TheAdoremusHymnalIncludesSequences,orderofBenedicon,aswellasnew

MasssengsbyleadingSacredmusiccomposers,some

whoareclergy.Therevisededionalsofeaturesanup

datedlayoutaswellasmanyaddionalhymns.

$1216

hp://www.ignaus.com

TheSt.MichaelHymnalIncludesmanyhymnswithalternatetextstothesametune,

About40hymnsinSpanish,andnumerousMasssengs

rangingfromtradionaltomodern.MassPropersarealso

settosimplemelodies.

$1417

hp://www.stmichaelhymnal.com

VaticanIIHymnalIncludesacompletesetofReadings,Propers,andbeauful

PsalmsengsforSundays,HolyDaysandSolemniesfor

allthreeliturgicalcycles. Freeonlineresourcesincluding

accompaniments andpraccevideosforpsalmodyand

muchofthehymnal.

$1417

hp://www.ccwatershed.org/vacan

Hardbound HymnalMass

SettingsHymns Order of

MassICEL Musicembedded

Texts ofPropers

ExtraordinaryForm

Readings& Psalms

Adoremus 13 200+ x x

St. Michael 18 300+ x x x

Vatican II 21 160+ x x x x


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employedtogiveglorytoGod,aswellassancfyandedifythefaithful. Itspurposeisnotmerelytomakeonefeelhappyandcom

fortable,althoughemoonisanimportantelementtomusicandanotherarclealtogether.

TheText

SacredmusicisintegraltothesolemnLiturgy:itisprayer! Chiefly,thetextdefinesthisbyfrequentuseofSacredScripture. The

ChurchhasinsisteduponthissteadyuseofScripturalanphonsandacclamaons,regardlessoflanguage. Thisisanareainneed

ofgreateraenon,asthecurrentpracceinmostparishestofollowpublishersrecommendaons,ratherthanthedirecvesof

theChurch! Why shouldweprefer secular textswitha selfcenteredmessageover theHolyBibleandSacredTradion? The

PsalmsofKingDavidversustextwrienbysomeguyinCalifornia? Nocontest!

TheRomanMissal,Psalm33,wrienc.1000BC

vs.AwesomeGodbyRichMullins,wrienin1988

TheStyle

Aerconsideraonofthetextcomesstyle. Noonedisputesthatthemajorityofpeoplepreferupbeatmusic. However,joyis

onlyoneofthemanyemoons! Sacredmusicisnotdefinedbyfeelings. AssetapartforGod,itissungprayerthatcanupli our

mindsandheartsintheheavenlyliturgy,notsimplyfocusonthehorizontalpresentdayfeelings. Yourneighborinthepewmight

havejustexperiencedgreat loss. A funeral ismuchdifferentthanawedding,justasPentecost iscompletelydiverse fromAsh

Wednesday. SacredmusicisintegraltotheLiturgyitserves.

OnequesonIoenposeconcerningstyleofmusicisthatofrhythm. Isthemusicat

Massrhythmicallydrivenorcomposedinthestyleofpopularrockorjazzmusic? Ifso,

thetextisoennonSacredaswell.RepeonofIIVVchordprogressionswithtexts

aboutourselves,orevenbiblicallybasedtextsareinappropriatefortheSacredLitur

gyand imposeapopular,nonsacredstyleintotheHolySacrificeoftheMass.Sacred

musicisnotbeatdrivenentertainmentfocusedinonourselves,itisprayer.

Atthesame me,theChurchdoesnotexcludemodernmusicfromtheSacredLiturgy,

aslongasithasholinessasitscentralreferencepoint. Simplybecauseapieceofmusicisneworolddoesntmakeitsuitable

forsingingwithintheSacredtemple. InusingSacredtextandsolemnstyle,wearewellonourwaytorestoringtheSacredwithin

ourChurchmusic. Godshouldbethecenter,ratherthanself. Byfocusingonourselves,andourpersonalstyleakintoourlile

partoftheCatholicworld,weareexcludingothers,aswellasignoringthemindoftheChurch. KnowthemindoftheChurchon

thesubjectofSacredMusic!!!

Isthemusicwesingdignified, imbuedwiththesenseofmystery,beauty,truth,anduniversality? Isthemusicsetapart forour

Lord? IsitcentereduponChristandtheHolySacrificeoftheMass? IsitSacred? +

What must be sung is the Mass, its Ordinary and Proper, not something, no matter how consistent, that isimposed on the Mass. Because the liturgical service is one, it has only one countenance, one motif, one voice,the voice of the Church. To continue to replace the texts of the Mass being celebrated with motets that arereverent and devout, yet out of keeping with the Mass of the day amounts to continuing an unacceptableambiguity: it is to cheat the people. Liturgical song involves not mere melody, but words, text, thought andthe sentiments that the poetry and music contain. Thus texts must be those of the Mass, not others, and sing-ing means singing the Mass not just singing during Mass. Consilium Notitiae 5 [1969], p. 406.

Bishops Committee on the Liturgy BCL Newsletter, [Aug-Sept 1993].

WhySacredMusicfromPage1


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Whyanewsleeronsinginghymnsthen?

Singing the propermusic atMass is not as easy as going

fromA toZ. Several stepsareneeded,alongwithproper

catechesis. Sincehymnsarewhereweareat,itwouldbe

awrytostripthepeopleofthemenrelyandbeginsinging

allof thepropers in LanGregorian chant. On theother

hand,tohavenogoalinmindwouldalsobeamistake.

SincehymnsareusedregularlyinmosteveryEnglishspeak

ingparish,itwouldbebesttofirstanalyzeandpurifythese

hymns, in both text and style. In selecng a hardbound

hymnalwithsolidCatholicTheologyandGodcenteredtexts

andstyles,thiswouldbeahugestepintherightdirecon.

AnotherinialstepwouldbetheformaonofasmallScho

la,orchoirschool. Thiscanbeasfewas2singers,with510

beingagoodgoal. TheScholacanfocustheiraenonon

learning simple English propers and beginning Gregorian

chantnotaon. TheCommunionanphonisthebestplace

tobegin, forvariousreasons. The me ismoremeditave

in nature, and the average congregaon will welcome a

peaceful chant if donewith excellence and beauty. With

thisexperienceandknowledge,thescholacouldthenlearn

asimpleGregorianchanthymn,suchasUbiCaritasorAdoro

teDevote. Repeon is themotherofmemory,however

thesecangeteasilyoverused! Spend menextonlearning

acommonCommuniochant,suchasHocCorpus,whichcan

beused meandagainunlmorecanbelearned.

AScholacanbeagreatwaytostart learningchant inyour

parish,

noma

erthe

size

orbudget.

Current

orlong

exisngchoirmemberswillnotbetaskedwiththedifficulty

of learning italongwith theircurrent repertoire. The

Schola will provide an example for the parish, and

alongwithimprovedhymnodyandbeeruseoffinan

cialresources,wewillbefaithfultotheChurchsdirec

vesandnorms. +

AboutthisIssuefromPage1

StudySacredMusicatCathedral!

St. Gregory the Great Schola CantorumTuesdays@4:00pm,beginningOctober1

St.PeterCathedralChoir Lo

St.PeterCathedral,inconjunconwithitsofferingofvarious

childrenchoirs,adultchoirs,andaCathedralScholaisprovid

ingamusicalopportunityforallClergy,men,andboys:

A training choir for the singing of theMass in English and

GregorianChant forall interestedmenandboysacross the

DioceseofMarquee.LedbyMr.NathanKnutsonaspartof

a Diocesan effort to train Young and Youthful Men.Clergyhighlyencouragedtoaendwhenscheduleallows.

JoinuswhetheryoulivenearMarquee,oraresimplytrav

elingthrough!Noexperiencerequired!

Nathan J. Knutson

DirectorofSacredMusic

DioceseofMarquete|St.PeterCathedral

1004HarborHillsDrive

Marquete,MI49855

800.562.9745ext122

[email protected]

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A Joyful Witness - Fall 2013